July 2013 Shirley Evans Dominion Lending Centres Lender Direct Phone: 780-454-6005 Cell: Fax: 1-888-336-4082 E-mail Website DID YOU KNOW... There are many ways to significantly reduce or even eliminate paying credit card fees. Conscientious cardholders can avoid paying most of these fees altogether when they choose the right cards and use them wisely. Click here for the top five credit card fees and how to avoid them courtesy of Yahoo! Finance. HOMEOWNER TIPS 5 Ways to Stay Cool Without Air Conditioning: 1. When it’s cooler outside than inside, open your windows instead of using air conditioning. Use a window fan, blowing toward the outside, to pull cool air in through other windows and to push hot air out. When it’s hotter outside than inside, close your windows and draw window coverings against direct sunlight. 2. On hot days, delay heat-producing tasks, such as dishwashing, baking or doing laundry, until the cooler evening or early morning hours. 3. Caulk around window and door frames, use weather stripping on exterior doors, and have a professional seal gaps where air can travel between the attic and your living space. 4. Use energy-efficient lighting in your home. CFL and LED light bulbs operate cooler and cost less to use because most of their energy produces light instead of heat. Incandescent light bulbs, on the other hand, lose 90% of their energy as heat. 5. Leafy shade trees planted on the east and west sides of your home can improve comfort and decrease cooling needs by blocking heat and sunlight. You’ll still have the benefit of heat from the sun in the winter, after the leaves fall. Check with your local garden centre for recommendations. About DLC Leasing Inc * DLC Leasing is the leasing division within Dominion Lending Centres Inc. * Our leasing programs provide up to 100% financing on business-related equipment. * Leasing options include new equipment leasing; used equipment and vehicle leasing; customized solutions through vendor finance programs; and lease-backs –where the lender buys equipment from a business owner and the owner leases it back. * Technology, heavy equipment and trailers, furniture and hospitality equipment, and manufacturing and industrial equipment are just a few examples of available leasing options. * With access to multiple lending sources, Dominion Lending Centres’ Lease Professionals can cater to leasing deals for a variety of credit scenarios ranging from A to C credit quality. * Because many of our Lease Professionals are also licensed mortgage agents, we can offer standard equipment leases and creatively structured solutions for seasonal, new or growing companies. * Working with someone who is both a lease and mortgage expert enables you to even use commercial and residential mortgage and property credit line products, alone or in combination with lease financing, to help achieve the best solutions for your equipment acquisition needs. * Our Lease Professionals can even break up large-dollar transactions into multiple leases across a number of funders to ease and simplify the approval process. Welcome to the July issue of my monthly newsletter! This month’s edition suggests ways to pay off your mortgage faster, as well as discusses your home renovation financing options. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback regarding anything outlined below. Thanks again for your continued support and referrals! Regardless of how long you’ve had your mortgage or how large or small the current balance is, there are a variety of ways to make prepayments work for you to pay down your mortgage faster and, therefore, pay less interest throughout the life of your mortgage. After all, each extra payment amount will reduce your principal balance, which, in turn, reduces the amount of interest you’ll have to pay on your borrowed mortgage amount. Most lenders allow you to make a lump-sum payment of anywhere between 10% and 25% of the value of your mortgage per year. The lump-sum payment is based on either the original amount you borrowed or the amount currently outstanding. Since mortgages decrease with each payment, it’s best to negotiate a lump-sum payment option based on the original amount you borrow. That way, if you come into an inheritance, a bonus or save some extra money, you can pay down the largest amount possible. Another factor to consider is when you can make a lump-sum payment. Some mortgages allow prepayments throughout the year, while others permit them only on the anniversary date. Still others allow you to make prepayments on the day you make your regular payment. If you can’t pay the maximum prepayment amount, it’s still worth your while to at least make some form of extra payments, even if it’s a few thousand dollars each year. That will still save you thousands of dollars in interest payments throughout the life of your mortgage. Another prepayment option involves taking advantage of flexible payments. Most lenders allow you to increase your regular payment up to a set maximum, such as 15%, while others allow you to double up your payments. If, for instance, you have a $1,000 per month mortgage payment and increase it by 15% to $1,150, you could shave off as much as five-and-a-half years on a $200,000 mortgage. Even rounding up your mortgage payments a few dollars each payment can help make your balance decline sooner. If you round up your mortgage payment from, say, $766 to an even figure such as $800, you can feel confident in knowing that every extra bit goes toward your principal. You can also pay off your mortgage faster by moving to a different payment schedule. Instead of making monthly payments, make them biweekly or even weekly. Using an accelerated mortgage payment plan – where you make payments every two weeks as opposed to twice a month – you actually make one extra payment each calendar year. By paying more and paying faster, you reduce your principal earlier, which lowers the amount of interest you pay. As always, if you have questions about paying your mortgage off quicker, or other mortgage-related questions, I’m here to help! There are many different reasons to renovate a home: to save energy (and save on utility bills), to make room for a growing family, to improve safety or increase the resale value of your home, or simply to bring a fresh new look to your home. There are also a number of different ways to finance your renovation. Explore your options Your own resources: For smaller renovation projects, you may consider self-funding material costs, especially if you plan to do the work yourself. Credit card: Likewise, you can use your credit card to pay for materials for smaller renovations. But be careful not to carry the balance for too long. Credit card interest rates can exceed 18%. Personal loan: With a personal loan, you pay regular payments of principal and interest for a set period, typically one to five years. You also have the option of a fixed or variable interest rate for the term of the loan. The interest rate on a personal loan is typically less than that of a credit card. Unlike a line of credit, however, once you pay off your loan, you’ll have to reapply to borrow any new funds needed. Personal line of credit: This is another popular choice for financing renovations. It’s ideal for ongoing or long-term renovations since it lets you access your funds at any time and provides a monthly statement to help track expenses. A line of credit offers lower interest rates than credit cards, and charges interest only on funds used each month. And, as you pay off your balance, you can access remaining funds, up to the line of credit’s limit, without reapplying. Secured lines of credit and home equity loans: These options offer all the advantages of regular lines of credit or loans, but are secured by your home’s equity. They can be very economical, since they offer preferred interest rates, but keep in mind that initial set-up costs including legal and appraisal fees usually apply. Lines of credit are typically limited to 65%, while home equity loans are capped at 80% of your home’s value. Mortgage refinancing: When funding major renovations, refinancing your mortgage lets you spread repayment over a longer period at mortgage interest rates, which are usually much lower than credit card or personal loan rates. This type of financing can allow you to borrow up to 80% of your home’s appraised value (less any outstanding mortgage balance). Initial set-up costs including legal and appraisal fees may apply. Financing improvements upon purchase: If you’re planning major improvements for a home you’re about to purchase, it may be advantageous to finance the renovations at the time of purchase by adding their estimated costs to your mortgage. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Mortgage Loan Insurance can help you obtain financing for both the purchase of your home and the renovations – up to 95% of the value after renovations – with a minimum down payment of 5%. Grants/rebates for energy-saving renovations Across Canada, renovation grants and rebates are available from the federal and provincial governments and local utilities, especially for energy-saving renovations. If you qualify, they may help pay for some of your project’s costs. CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance for Energy-Efficient Homes: 10% CMHC mortgage loan insurance premium refund, and a premium refund for a longer amortization period (if applicable). ecoENERGY Retrofit — Homes: grants of up to $5,000 to offset the cost of making energy-efficiency improvements. Provincial and Municipal Entities Offering Grants and Incentives Rebates and Incentives for Selected ENERGY STAR® Qualified Products in Canada We are Canada’s largest and fastest-growing mortgage brokerage! We have more than 2,200 Mortgage Professionals from more than 350 locations across the country! Our Mortgage Professionals are Experts in their field and many are ranked among the best nationally. We work for you, not the lenders, so your best interests will always be our number one priority. We have more than 100 mortgage programs, making it easy to choose the best fit for your unique situation. We close loans in all 10 provinces and 3 territories. We can process your mortgage in as few as 7 days. We are the preferred mortgage lender for several of Canada’s top companies. Dominion Lending Centres’ Mortgage Professionals are available anytime, anywhere, evenings and weekends – and we’ll even come to you! 200, 15057 Stony Plain Road Edmonton AB T5p 4W1
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:46:09 +0000
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